Deeplinks Blog posts about Anonymity

Frivolous, abusive legal attempts to intimidate and silence online critics are hardly rare. From school superintendents to developers to mayors to businesses, bogus lawsuits are often tempting tools for those looking to expose and embarrass critics or simply intimidate them into silence. While we've seen many ridiculous lawsuits filed in recent years aimed at improperly unmasking anonymous online speakers, however, an action filed in the Northern District of California last month stands out given its unusually high number of abusive elements (even for a "John Doe" case).

YouTube recently unveiled a new face blurring tool that lets users choose to conceal every face in a video they have uploaded. This is a commendable step towards fostering anonymous speech on the Internet. Activists around the world rely on being able to speak freely through online media, including video, while hiding their own identities for fear of persecution. Such a tool would allow for crucial footage to be seen and dialogue to be heard—all without risking visual recognition. Though the tool is not perfect, YouTube has noted that they hope to improve the technology to allow more targeted, accurate blurs. For an-indepth analysis of the tool, see this detailed post from WITNESS.

Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court order imposing sanctions on Evan Stone, attorney for adult film producer Mick Haig Productions, who improperly issued subpoenas without leave of court to ISPs seeking the identities of anonymous subscribers in a mass end-user copyright infringement case.

Today, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a district court order imposing sanctions on Evan Stone, attorney for adult film producer Mick Haig Productions, who improperly issued subpoenas without leave of court to ISPs seeking the identities of anonymous subscribers in a mass end-user copyright infringement case.

Since March of this year, EFF has reported extensively on the ongoing campaign to use social engineering to install surveillance software that spies on Syrian activists. Syrian opposition activists have been targeted using severalTrojans, including one disguised as a Skype encryption tool and others disguised as revolutionary documents.